How The New Minnesota Expungement Law Might Help Your Job Search

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Mar 16, 2015

How The New Minnesota Expungement Law Might Help Your Job Search

Posted By
Joshua London

For many years, the law in Minnesota has allowed people convicted of certain
crimes to petition for
expungement. Expungement is the process of having your criminal records sealed from
the public’s view. It seems great, right? A chance to escape past
mistakes and the stigma that accompanies a criminal conviction. In reality,
expungement attorneys have long understood that the effectiveness of a
successful petition for expungement was been pretty limited.

Primarily, people want to pursue expungement for employment purposes. They
don’t want an old
assault, theft, or
drug conviction popping up on a background check, preventing them from getting
a job. And sure, an expungement will seal the records of a conviction
held by the courts. The problem is, most employers don’t turn to
the government when they want to run a background check. Instead, businesses
contract with private companies that track criminal arrests and convictions.
Until now, those private criminal records companies were outside the long-arm
of the law. An order of expungement could not be used to force private
organization to delete a record of conviction.

If the disputed record is found to be sealed, expunged, or the subject
of a pardon, the business screening service shall promptly delete the
record. A business screening service that complies with this subdivision
is not in violation of this section.

This means that the courts finally have the power to issue an order sealing
the criminal records that really effect people. Another important result
of this change to the law is that people who successfully petitioned for
expungement in the past can now request to have that order extended to
a particular private records company.

Thenew Minnesota expungement law will create new opportunities for thousands of Minnesotans with a criminal
record. More crimes than ever before are eligible for expungement and
an order for expungement itself will carry more value than ever before.
This was a hard fought victory for the criminal defense bar. Brock Hunter
is one several Minnesota criminal defense lawyers that fought for this
reform. As the Chair of the Legislative Committee for the
Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL) Brock got the ball rolling on the bill that would eventually become Minnesota’s
new expungement law.

If you are interested in pursuing an expungement or finding out whether
you are eligible for expungement, call the expungement attorneys at Brockton
D. Hunter P.A. for a free consultation. Our phone number is (612) 979-1112.